Photography of Religious Architecture

Featured Churches

A number of our posts are explorations of one church exclusively. The following lists allow you to select a church from that country and go directly to the associated post and photos. Since this lists is long and gets longer with time, you can also use the “Search” box on the right side of this page to find a particular church that you are seeking.

In addition, in response to requests for the locations of the churches, we have added longitude and latitude coordinates. If you select the link attached to those coordinates, you will go to a custom Google Map identifying the location. By expanding the view, you can see all of the rest of the churches that we feature on this page.

I was directed to your site after you ‘liked’ one of my posts. Your photography is stunning and truly captures the beauty & stories of these cathedrals. I, too, am drawn to cathedrals for their beauty, emotion & architecture. Thank you for sharing.

Thanks, Amy. This is a life project for both PJ and myself. We’re returning to France in September for six or seven weeks to shoot in Normandy, the Poitou, and Burgundy again. Can’t wait. Meanwhile, we still have about thirty or forty churches unprocessed from the September/October trip in 2011.

I came here following you placing a ‘like’ on my blog…and I am stunned by the quality of your photography.
You’ve shown me churches I thought I knew well in a way to wish i could go back and take a further look.
I’ve passed the link to friends one of whom is a medieval specialist now living in France who often show religious architecture on their blog

Helen, it was a pleasure discovering your blog and your introduction to France many years ago – brought back France in those days and how much I loved her. Thanks for your kind words on our Via Lucis project – we have been doing this project for six years now and we are as passionate about it now as we were when we started.

What type of Cameras do you use when shooting? Do you usually shoot them in the morning or later in the evening when the sun is setting? Any beauitful Gardens outside or inside the churches? I’d like to see a inside Garden in a church…would that not be fantastic!!!

Here is a link to our equipment, if you are interested. As for the timing of our photography, unfortunately we do not always arrive at the optimum times. Depending the on the church, we might spend three days photographing or three hours. Sometimes we have shot three churches in a day, so the times are distributed. We have taken the opportunity to go back and reshoot many times at more optimal times. As for gardens, there are generally two kinds – a cathedral may have an episcopal garden nearby, but more often there are gardens in the centers of the cloisters, if they have survived. These are the most photogenic sites you can imagine.

Trish, if you’re in the area near Saint Martin du Canigou, you should also see Saint Michel de Cuxa, which is right nearby. If you are interested in more, let me know and I’ll send you some names. There are literally dozens in the area.

Thanks Dennis. I now have a long list of churches and monasteries to visit. I’ll let you know if I get to them, or if I discover something completely different! I’m very grateful that you’ve typed up the lists for me.

Comments on Via Lucis

“There are people who take pictures, there are photographers, and then, there is Via Lucis. This is the most incredible collection of images from Medieval churches I have yet seen. These places are amazing to start with, but what Dennis Aubrey and PJ McKey accomplish in these spaces with a camera is breathtaking.”

“How do you do it – time after time after time – beautiful photographs that need no words and beautiful words that need no photographs? Combined they transport us to the deepest place of our inner selves. Your gifts of self – an eye for finding the beauty in these ancient buildings and your ability to capture that beauty and share it with others – those are your blessings on those of us fortunate enough to know of your site and follow it.” – Jay Fredrich